A JAMAICAN CHRISTMAS TREE

Several weeks ago, Carol McDougald wrote to me regarding some correspondence she had with a collector who lives in Jamaica. This fellow had sent photos to her along with some background information on a glass "insulator" reportedly used on that island many years ago. An "Old Gentleman" friend of his remembers seeing these same insulators mounted on telegraph poles there when he first came to Jamaica around 1920. He said that a wooden dowel, which went all the way to the top of the pin hole, held the insulator in place on the cross arm. He even identified two modern styles of threaded glass insulators, used for the same purpose, which had replaced the earlier version you see in the photos below.

The insulator is hand blown of straw colored flint glass. It measures 3-1/4" across the base, 4" at its widest point and stands 6-5/8" tall. There are no markings on it at all. The glass is actually quite thin (1/8") throughout most of the crown portion, making it a very fragile piece. Doesn't it remind you of a small glass Christmas tree? This particular piece came from auctioned items which belonged to the Jamaican Agricultural/Livestock Society, which controlled the telecommunication system in Jamaica at that time.

Carol asked me what I thought of all this. Had I ever heard of this insulator before or seen one? Was it even an insulator? She asked the Jamaican collector to send her one of the glass pieces, which she then mailed to me. It arrived just in time to catch the monthly meeting of our LONE STAR INSULATOR CLUB, and Mr. N. R. Woodward and several other members were able to see it. 

We have to admit that this is definitely a new one to us! And it is a beautiful thing. What bothered most of us, though, was the very thin glass. Would this have been practical? With the lack of threads and such a short neck to hold any sort of pin in place, how could it be very stable? Was it meant to have other parts, perhaps of metal, which are missing? If so, was it intended for use as a lightning arrestor? Or to be used simply as an ornament, and why?

The shape of this piece reminds one of the wooden finials used as decoration on top of British telegraph poles. Also, the general appearance of the glass is very much like that of CD 435, an unmarked "Post Office" insulator that was recovered from the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (L.M.S.) in England. There are only two know specimens of this "oldie" still in existence. It is pictured on page 53 of Keith Neal's book, "SEARCHING FOR RAILWAY TELEGRAPH INSULATORS." Were these two, the Jamaican insulator and CD 435 made by the same glass factory? In England?

Knowing that the Island of Jamaica is a member of the British Commonwealth and that British insulators could very well have found their way to Jamaica, I decided to consult with Keith Neal. I sent him a letter with the photos and all the information I had about the piece. Let me share with you his reply:

"I can give you no real help over the weird glass insulator as I have ever in my life set eyes on such a thing, and my first glance said to me "NO," this cannot be a telegraph insulator to go on an arm unless it was purely ornamental as a finial. But being such thin glass, this makes no sense! Even if it is part of an insulator which had a metal covering, there is no indication. However, the fact that it takes a normal wooden spindle rather upsets my instinct that it is not a telegraph insulator. So all I can say is, once more, I have never seen anything like it used as an insulator. It could have been designed by someone who had never heard of stone throwing! Because it is so thin and fragile, it is rejected even as a finial. I think I must conclude it is a genuine "what is it" and has some value as such. It is a good conversation piece. Enough said!"

Mr. Woodward said essentially the same thing and so, with all this good counsel, I rest my case! Thanks for all your help, Keith and Woody, and thanks go to Carol for letting us know about this one!

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Both Marilyn and I would appreciate any facts or reactions you readers have about the Jamaican piece before I return it to its owner.)

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE CONSOLIDATED DESIGN (CD) CHART

I'd like to show you three insulators that have come into the spotlight recently, thanks to the trust of the collectors who own them and let me take the pieces home with me top get shadow drawings and measurements.

In the first photo below, let me introduce CD 209, a beauty in straw colored glass from Chile. It is embossed CRISTALERIAS DE CHILE - N. 42. The glass manufacturer of that name is located in Santiago. The insulator belongs to Joe Maurath, Jr., who sent it to me by mail.

The second photo shows our new CD 677.3, the smallest of the three known sizes of Italian "T-Bars," as they are affectionately dubbed. This one is only 2-1/2" across the base, has an arm spread of 3-7/8" and stands a mere 3-1/8" tall. It is embossed MIVA/BT 3M. This little one in pale blue came home with me from the Bakersfield Show last October, courtesy of Norm James.

The last photo is a really pretty piece of aqua glass owned by Mike Guthrie. He, too, is a good egg and watched me disappear around the corner with his little Belgian insulator, CD 565 VERLICA BELGIUM/BT 10. Mike also loaned me several foreign porcelains, but I will wait until Jack Tod and I can consult for new U-numbers, and then I'll show them to you. However, the next time my column is run, you will see two glass insulators you will not believe! I didn't! One is from the Island of Majorca and other comes from Portugal. So stay tuned! These are new ones to collectors!